Mother Jones Podcast June 26, 2018
A little over a week ago, I did an interview with a reporter from Mother Jones for a podcast. It was a pretty non-controversial bit about LGBTQIA representation in the media, and the part that ended up in the podcast was only a fraction of the interview, because that's just how that stuff works. I was just one of a group of people interviewed, but I was happy to add my voice to help raise a little awareness of how we fit into the world in a normal way.

Since then, a few people have made comments to the effect of being proud of me for it, like it's brave of me. Thanks for that, but it isn't brave for me, because I am risking nothing. As I've said before, I'm aware I'm in an enviable position of safety. I can speak about LGBTQIA stuff because I can do so without much risk, and I know a lot of others cannot.

Sometimes I feel a little torn because I can say we're normal and want to just live quietly; because a big objection I've heard is some people don't want LGBTQIA stuff 'shoved down their throats', and here I am talking about it. A lot. But the thing is that all of us, if we're lesbian, bi, pan, gay, trans, intersex, ace, aro, black, muslim, hispanic, whatever, we have to talk about it because we are not allowed to just live our lives. We have to have a voice because everywhere we turn, other people are talking about us. It's not fun, to be just going along doing your thing, surrounded by strangers using you as a political talking point. It's not something you can ignore. If other people are saying all kinds of things about you, it's hard not to want to speak up to at least make sure they get their facts about you right.